13th Annual Dark'n'Stormy Recap

(Manhattan, New York)- It was a wild ride, with nautical trivia, human bingo, fantastic raffle prizes, and a tutorial from an 8th-generation Gosling rum runner. We danced to "Men or Myth", introduced our pets and kids, sang to score points, and raised a glass to Hudson River Community Sailing center. We saw short films of our students engaged and learning remotely, and were carried through the festivities by a dynamic MC.


When we set out to do a virtual Dark‘n’Stormy, we were in uncharted waters. But, we knew we had to find a way to bring our community together in the midst of this crisis and raise funds to support Sail Academy and the future of our students. Two months later, here we are, having sold over 300 tickets and having raised over $47,000!

This is the kind of magic our community makes happen.


Take a moment to watch the videos we shared during the event. Relive MEN or MYTH's from-home concert. Consider a gift to help us hit our $50K goal!

Thank you again for being part of our mission.


Highlights video of kids remote learning



MEN OR MYTH music video- an entertaining group!

For more Hudson River Community Sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/122E JOYRIDE Eclipses Vic-Maui Race!

(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)- The Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Lahaina Yacht Club, got underway July 1st. The 2,308nm course went from Victoria, British Columbia to Maui, Hawaii.

The lone J/Crew sailing the race was the gorgeous J/122E JOYRIDE from Seattle, WA skippered by her owner- John Murkowski from Seattle YC. They are one of the most successful offshore racing teams in the Pacific Northwest.

In the end, JOYRIDE took not only Class I honors, but she also won the Vic-Maui Race Overall.  JOYRIDE finished at 0959 hrs in the morning of July 14th- Saturday; completing the course in 13d 2h 59m and corrected out ahead by 3h 6m. This was JOYRIDE’s first Vic-Maui and adds more silver to the trophy room after winning the Round Saltspring Race earlier this year!

It was a gorgeous morning in Lahaina, and after hitting the dock to the traditional call of the conch shell and the welcome of their families.  The JOY RIDE crew then celebrated with a swim off the transom. It was all fun until one of the family threw in a bar of soap as a reminder!

“The trip of a lifetime and everything that was promised” is how John, navigator Bron Miller, and Alex Fox all described their first adventure across the Pacific.

The only negative came from Bron, who described the plastic littering the ocean as more intense than he remembers from past trips- a sad reminder to us all.   Follow the Vic-Maui Race here on Facebook  Watch “live” real-time tracker of the fleet here   For more Vic-Maui Offshore Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 RIMETTE Awarded Annapolis NOOD Regatta Overall Champion

(Annapolis, MD)- Warm weather, sunny skies and moderate breeze set the stage for a solid day of racing on the Chesapeake Bay for the first day of the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta in Annapolis on Friday. All classes on three race courses completed five races to kick off the three-day event.  Then, Saturday dawned with a light northerly breeze fiasco with only a few fleets completing one race.  Sunday dawned with little more promise, giving most fleets a chance for two more races in yet more light northerly winds.

In the end, it was John Brim of Palm Beach, Florida, and his crew on the J/70 RIMETTE that not only scored their first-ever major regatta win in the J/70 class, but also earned the coveted title of Overall Winner at the event.  Here is how it all went down for the three-day event.

Friday- Gorgeous Southerly and Sun!
With 32 boats registered each, the J/22 and the J/70 fleets were tied for largest of the weekend. The J/22s had an especially competitive roster this year as competitors prepare for their J/22 World Championship in Annapolis in September. The day’s J/22 class leader, Pete Levesque, of Tiverton, Rhode Island, said it’s still anyone’s game.

“The top five are all going fast and, even behind them, there are a bunch of people who are capable of winning races,” he said. “It’s a pretty deep fleet.”

Levesque and his crew on Dusty took a conservative approach to the day, establishing a one-point lead over Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY, of Annapolis, after five races. Facing an “uphill current and an aggressive fleet,” Levesque wanted to get off the starting line cleanly and avoid taking risks.

“It is my first time back at it in Annapolis in a while and first time sailing in a fleet this size in a while, so I just wanted to tip-toe into it,” he said. “We’ll probably have to take more risks as the weekend goes on.”

J/70 class leader John Brim, of Palm Beach, Florida, found success was on the western edge of the course, where, in one race, he and his crew aboard RIMETTE found tide relief and breeze in a pivotal moment on a downwind leg, which resulted in a five-boat recovery that he said was a big factor in his team’s overall lead.

But, the strategy didn’t work in their favor on the last race of the day, when team RIMETTE— already several places deep in the fleet— made its move to the west and watched as the boats sailing straight down the middle of the course gained speed. They held a strong lead most of the day, but that 10th-place finish left them narrowly ahead of class veteran Brian Keane on SAVASANA.

The RIMETTE skipper also found the variable conditions challenging, with shifty winds and a “fair amount of chop” thrown into the mix. He said his crew found it was best to keep sailing through the chop than try to sail around the unavoidable waves. He also credited a brand-new mainsail and “fantastic” trim and tactical work by his crew for team RIMETTE’s first-place standing at the end of day one.

The J/80 fleet’s opening day leader on COURAGEOUS, skipper Gary Panariello, of Sausalito, California, echoed Brim’s analysis of the conditions out on the racecourse.

“Every single race was different,” he said. “All the things we thought would work didn’t, so we just had to pay attention to what was going on during each race. The pressure was better on the west side of the course for most of the day, but by the end of the day, the right side worked just as well as the left. Which is really interesting in Annapolis, because it’s usually a much more one-sided [advantaged] racecourse.”

Sunday- Light Airs Finale
After the virtual glass-out on Saturday where only the Yellow course managed to complete one race, the rest of the day’s racing for all fleets on all courses was canceled.

Sunday dawned with some promise, with the northerly winds showing a somewhat steady 6-8 kts of breeze.  However, the forecast was for it to die slowly and shift east.  What transpired was nothing like the forecast, with the breeze dying fast and oscillating back and forth from 350 deg to 60 deg across the race course and with huge, spotty wind streaks dropping down to 1-3 kts at times.  To say it was rough and challenging on tacticians and sail trimmers would be an understatement.

Victory didn’t come easily for the J/70 team on RIMETTE. In fact, it all came down to the eighth and final race of the weekend. Heading into it in second place, the crew had difficulty getting off the starting line and then committed a port-starboard foul, for which they had to perform a penalty turn in light air. Fortunately, Rimette’s tactician Taylor Canfield soon made a call that put them on the path to redemption.

“We were mid-fleet after the penalty turn, but our tactician was brilliant,” Brim said. “He saw a breeze and we went hard left. I focused my eyes on the jib and the waves, and the next thing I knew we were lifted to port-tack with fresher breeze. We rounded the mark in second, amazingly.”

From there, third-place NINE sailed by Oivind Lorentzen worked its way between RIMETTE and SAVASANA, which was holding the top spot at the time. Brim’s team finished that race in second, gaining the necessary two points to tie with Brian Keane’s Savasana. The tiebreaker— based on which team has the most first-place race finishes— worked in Brim’s favor, as team RIMETTE had three to SAVASANA’s two.

“Frankly, we were surprised at the whole thing, and delighted,” Brim said, whose crew also included Scott Ewing and Collin Leon. “I’ve sailed in Annapolis many times and it’s always a challenging place, but this weekend was one of the nicest Annapolis regattas I remember.”

As the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD’s overall winner, Brim earns a berth in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship Regatta, presented by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands in October.

Behind the two leaders, it was Lorentzen’s NINE that secured third place, followed by Doug Clark’s POLAR from the US Coast Guard Academy in fourth and Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE from Fort Worth, TX in fifth.

Winning the J/70 Corinthians division was Jennifer & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY from Annapolis, MD.  Second was Henry Filter’s WILD CHILD, third Tod Sackett’s FM, fourth Jack & Vivien Wallace’s SELKIE, and fifth Mark Hilman’s USA 6.

Like Brim, this was the first Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD win for Gary Panariello, whose COURAGEOUS team took the top spot in the competitive J/80 fleet, where only two points separate the first and third finishers in the final standings.

“This is very typical of J/80 racing,” Panariello said. “It’s usually this tight. All of the people at the top of the fleet are very good. We had a sizable lead going into the day and our goal was just to be in first place when we finished. We weren’t very aggressive about what we did, and we were just able to hang on.”

After a “tough” first race, where Panariello finished well behind the second-place boat in the standings, team COURAGEOUS had one goal in the last race.

“We just needed to stay near Thomas Kopp’s KOPP-OUT no matter where they went on the racecourse,” he said. “And that’s what we did. We followed them around and made sure we didn’t get disconnected from them or let any boats between us.”

Behind the two leaders were John White’s USA 1162 in third, Les Beckwith’s FKA fourth, and Mike Hobson’s MELTEMI in fifth.

Similarly, local J/22 class winner Zeke Horowitz and the UNCLE FLUFFY had to face their own challenges today despite starting the day with a strong lead. A bad start during race one landed them in the back of the 32-boat fleet.

“We had a really good comeback in the first race,” Horowitz said. “There was definitely luck involved in that one, no doubt about it. On the final beat, we were out right hard and a big shift with pressure filled in. We probably passed 20 boats or more the last two minutes into the finish. It was one of those moments where you cross the line and you’re like, ‘How did that just happen?’”

The team then had to recover from another bad start in the second race, where they were able to claw their way to first place after rounding the first mark in eleventh. Horowitz said he knew all they needed was to complete the race in the top 10 to maintain their overall position, which made the eventual win even more sweet.

“It was really fun to be able to win the last race in a regatta like this,” he said. “These crews sailed great and really fast, and they’re extremely hard to beat. We’re really fortunate to be in the spot that we are.”

Rounding out the top five places were Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY in second, Pete Levesque’s DUSTY in third, JR Maxwell’s SCOOBY in fourth and Aden King’s RHYTHMIC PUMPING in fifth place.

For the six-boat J/24 class, it was yet another class that determined the winner based on a tie-breaker.  Pat Fitzgerald’s RUSH HOUR and Pete Kassal’s SPACEMAN SPIFF each finished with 16 pts each, with countback going to Fitzgerald’s team based on number of 1sts.  Third place wen to Peter Rich’s BUXTON with 20 pts total.

The ten-boat J/30 class saw a repeat winner from last year.  Bob Rutsch’s BEBOP won two races and took three 2nds to comfortably win their class.  They were followed by Doug & Amy Stryker’s TOTALED MAYHEM in second and Ron Anderson’s INSATIABLE in third position.

With a half-dozen boats, the betting was how many races were Jim Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel’s fabled AUNT JEAN were going to win??  In the end, just five in seven races for an easy win with 12 pts total.  The real battle was for the next two spots on the podium.  Trading 2nds and 3rds all weekend, it was ultimately the ABIENTOT crew with skipper Roger Lant that took the silver by one point over Chuck Kohlerman’s team on MEDICINE MAN.

As the biggest big boat fleet on the Bay, the eighteen-boat J/105 class is always a challenging fleet to race in due to the many class veterans that continue to sharpen the tools of the trade each year.  This time, it was a near (and surprising) “white washing” of the fleet by Cedric Lewis & Fred Salvesen’s MIRAGE, winning five of seven races for a mere total of 16 pts!  Second was the tenacious crew on-board Andrew Kennedy’s BAT IV.  However, speaking of “tenacious”, it was Carl & Scott Gitchell’s TENACIOUS that finished only one point back to take the bronze.

As anticipated, the eight-boat J/111 class was going to be a “shoot-out @ the OK Corral”.  Indeed it was.  With a multitude of champions in the class in attendance, it was not going to be a battle for the faint of heart.  Multiple gladiators squared off and, in the end, it was local hotshot Martie Roesch’s crew on VELOCITY that avoided the major pitfalls to take the title with a final race win.  Going into the final race, Peter Wagner’s J/111 World Champion SKELETON KEY team had the lead by two points.  So long as Wagner’s crew maintained contact with VELOCITY, with even one boat in between, they won the regatta.  Somehow, it wasn’t so.  Just six points back was Rob Ruhlman’s Cleveland, OH team on their famous SPACEMAN SPIFF. Perhaps the highlight for the J/111 crews was the “huuuuge” fiesta for the “Derby de Mayo” party at Roesch’s house on Saturday evening; after all, racing was canceled at 1:30pm, so the crews had plenty of time to don sombreros, feathered boa hats, and drink whatever moved them- mint juleps or massive pitchers of margaritas!  Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images  For more Helly Hansen Annapolis MOOD Regatta sailing information a data-flip-widget="flipit" href="https://flipboard.com">Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Sailing World BOTY- Best Crossover Award- J/121!
(Newport, RI)- “Simply put, the J/121 is a bucket-list boat, designed to tackle adventure-style races where it’s more about the experience than winning,” commented Dave Reed from Sailing World.

He goes on to say that, “as if on cue, in the midst of our Sailing Wolrd Boat Of The Year dockside briefing with J/Boats’ Jeff Johnstone, a middle-aged gentleman appears in the companionway, out of the blue. Johnstone introduces him as an owner, from Portland, Oregon, who is trading in his J/46 for a yet-to-be-built J/121. He climbs down the companionway stairs, interrupts the judging team’s Q&A session, and then promptly cites all the races he intends to enter when he takes ownership of Hull No. 14: the Swiftsure, the Oregon Offshore, the Van Isle 360, and even the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii. Moments earlier, Johnstone had explained this very concept: The J/121 is a bucket-list boat. This guy is Exhibit A.

“We saw that signature events were attracting record fleets — the Fastnet Race, the Three-Bridge Fiasco in San Francisco, the Chicago-Mac, for example — all these types of short-handed, adventure-style races where it’s more about the experience than winning,” says Johnstone. “We thought that if we could eliminate half the crew on a 40-footer that’s purpose-built for point-to-point racing, but still pass the beer-can and daysail test, we’d have people interested.”

Their research led Johnstone and his brother, Alan, to a design concept built around a crew of five. As for rail meat? No need. That’s what the water ballast tanks are for.

Extra hands to get sails up and down? No need there either. There’s an impressive quiver of headsails, most on roller furlers. With the entire inventory hanging from the rig on halyard locks, and sheets and furling lines spilling into the cockpit, the boat could be easily mistaken for a Class 40 — albeit, one that actually goes upwind.”  Read on here…    Sailing photo credits- Walter Cooper

Read more here on Sailing World.com
https://www.sailingworld.com/best-crossover-j-121 Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Russian Woman Sailing Photographer Honored

(Moscow,  Russia)- At the 2017 Russian Sailor of the Year Awards in Moscow, Russia, Elena Otekina was awarded “Best Sailing Media” due to her amazing coverage of the 2017 J/70 World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy and also for her coverage of numerous Russian J/70 Sailing League events during the course of the year.

“Congratulations” to Elena for her contribution to both growing and bringing awareness of the sport of sailing to the public, not just in Russia, but worldwide. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

VINEYARD VINES Wins Marblehead NOOD Overall!

J/105 MERLIN Wins Boat of the Day!
(Marblehead, MA)- After the final day of the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta at Marblehead Race Week today, J/70 class winners John and Molly Baxter on VINEYARD VINES took home the overall prize. In addition to new gear from Helly Hansen, the VINEYARD VINES crew (ironically) earned a berth in the final NOOD championship regatta, hosted by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands Oct. 22-29.

The Riverside, Conn.-based couple is fairly new to J/70s, having owned their boat for less than two years. They decided to compete in the Helly Hansen Marblehead NOOD to train for the class world championship, which will be held in Marblehead in 2018 and which they officially qualified for by winning this event.

“We wanted to check out the spot, and we heard there were a lot of good teams out here,” John Baxter said. “It was fun. We definitely got the lay of the land.”

The Baxter’s, along with crew members Jake LaDow and Luke Lawrence, held strong at the top of the fleet from the very beginning, winning two of three races on the first day. From there, it was all about consistency, good starts and conservative sailing, according to John Baxter.

While Baxter said the team’s biggest takeaway was figuring out how to balance the boat going upwind, Lawrence, the tactician, went on to say that the team is making huge strides in their training program for the Worlds in Marblehead.

“There’s a big checklist to make sure that you’re set up to be able to go out there and have a shot,” Lawrence said. “To come here to a venue like this early on and to excel against a majority of our good competition in the USA, I mean – it’s nice. But along with everything that comes with that, we’ve learned ten-fold how to come in to the next event.”

Looking ahead, the crew plans to return to Marblehead next summer leading into the World Championship after training their way down to Florida and back.

Regatta organizers determine the overall winner based on the strongest individual finish in the most competitive class. The J/70 fleet was the largest of the weekend and completed seven races in three days.

Also in the J/70 class, the Helly Hansen Junior Crew— a team of five local youth sailors specially selected to compete in the regatta— finished 12th of 30 boats. Their crew consisted of Clark Uhl, Rachel Foster, Katharine Bowman, Kate O'Donnell and Garrett McKinnon.

The balance of the podium behind the Baxter’s included Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE in 2nd place with tactician Jeremy Wilmot (Australia) on board and Brian Keane’s SAVASANA in 3rd place with USA Olympian Stu McNay as mainsheet/ tactician.

In the J/70 Corinthians Division, winning was Duncan Swain’s CLOWN CAR, following in 2nd was Henry Brauer’s RASCAL crew of Newporters and San Diegans, and in third was Stein Skaane’s SHRED.

Charlie Garrard, skipper of the J/105 MERLIN, was also the recipient of Sunday’s North Sails Boat of the Day and the Cressy Award said the key to his success this weekend was having his teenage kids, Emily (pit) and Jack (bow), onboard.  “Without them it wouldn’t happen,” Garrard said. “Together, we make it work.”

Behind Garrard’s crew were past multiple Marblehead NOOD winners, Fred de Napoli’s ALLEGRO SEMPLICITA with 12 pts, and in third was Steve Goldberg’s AIR EXPRESS with 15 pts.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images.com   For more Marblehead NOOD sailing regatta information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Stormy, Windy Annapolis NOOD Regatta!

J/80 MORE GOSTOSA Wins Overall Award!
(Annapolis, MD)- After inclement weather on Friday prevented racing, the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design Regatta kicked into full gear on Saturday as 220 teams in 17 classes battled the elements on the Chesapeake Bay.  Then, blessed with a powerful front moving across the region, the fleet enjoyed partly sunny skies, 51 F temperatures, and westerly breezes blowing 12 to 32 kts plus on Sunday to close out the regatta— fresh to frightening conditions for many!

While the NOOD Regatta series has been a springtime fixture in Annapolis for nearly 20 years, it is the first time the regatta had a single brand completely dominate the event. Amazingly, 158 J/crews registered (72% of the fleet!) to contest for many coveted prizes; the eight J/classes represented include J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/30s J/35s, J/105s, J/111s, and a J/42 in the PHRF North Sails Rally class.

“The weekend was pretty wild,” said Conor Hayes, skipper of the J/80 MORE GOSTOSA and Overall Winner of the regatta. “Yesterday was great breeze, really shifty, and today was off the hook. Breeze on the whole time.”

Organizers select the overall winner based on the weekend’s most competitive fleet, and Hayes said the conditions made for exciting challenges on the water for the J/80s. The Gilford, N.H., native attributed his success to the quick, precise maneuvering of his crew, which included his father Kevin Hayes, cousin Dan Jolda and friend Graham Philpot.

“We’ve been together for years and years, which was huge today. That’s the difference-maker when you’re sailing in big conditions, where you have no margin of error for mistakes. Sometimes you have to throw pretty risky maneuvers in, but I was not at all concerned because the crew work was on point all day.”

As the Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD’s overall winner, team More Gostosa will compete in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship Regatta, presented by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands in October.

While Hayes has never been a winning skipper at a NOOD Regatta, the weekend proved successful for a couple of previous Overall Winners. The 2016 Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD champion, Terry Flynn, once again won the J/22 class.

In the J/70 class, Bruce Golison followed up his win at the 2016 Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD with another first-place finish. Still new to the class, this event was the Midlife Crisis crew’s opportunity to make strides in the direction of future championships.

“We were able to qualify here for the 2018 Worlds, and that was important to us,” said Golison. “It was a good regatta and a good learning experience, and kept us going on our way to what we want to accomplish.”

Behind Flynn in the J/22 class was Zeke Horowitz’s UNCLE FLUFFY taking the silver with 24 pts, third was Jake Doyle’s USA 789 taking a tie-breaker over Vic Snyder/ Kevin Doyle’s MO’MONEY at 30 pts each.  Closing out the top five was JR Maxwell’s SCOOBY.

While Golison took a well-deserved win in the J/70 class, he was challenged hard by the consistent crew on SAVASANA, skippered by Brian Keane.  On the last day, Keane’s crew closed with a 5-1 to take the silver.  Third was Martie Kullman’s NEW WAVE with 29 pts, fourth Will Welles’ SCAMP with 34 pts and fifth Allan Terhune’s DAZZLER with 35 pts (note- they crushed the last day with a 1-2 tally to rocket up the leaderboard!).

In the J/70 Corinthians class, winning their first ever event was Jay Greenfield’s PINCH & ROLL.  Second were class veterans Heather Gregg & Joe Bardenheier’s MUSE, followed by Todd Hiller’s LEADING EDGE in third, Peter Bowe’s TEA DANCE SNAKE in fourth and Jenn & Ray Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY in fifth place.

Winning the J/24 class was Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET with essentially straight firsts!  Just behind them in a virtual tie-breaker was Peter Rich’s BUXTON taking second with 12 pts and Pete Kassal’s SPACEMAN SPIFF securing the bronze with 13 pts.  Rounding out the top five was Allan Vanderheyden’s WHO-WA in 4th and Jim Bonham’s SISU in 5th position.

The massive fourteen-boat J/30 class saw a spoiler blow up the traditional top of the leaderboard.  Doug & Amy Stryker’s TOTALED MAYHEM won the class on a tie-breaker over past Annapolis NOOD winner, Steve Buzbee’s BLUE MEANIE.  Taking third was Bob Rutsch’s BEPOP, fourth was Sumner Parker’s BLUEJACKET and fifth was Bruce Irvin’s SHAMROCK.

The overall regatta winner came out of the tightly fought J/80 class that has 20 boats on the starting line.  Behind Hayes’ MORE GOSTOSA was John White’s USA 1162 in 2nd, Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS in 3rd, David Andril’s VAYU in 4th and Vince Kalish’s WHITE LIGHTNIN’ in 5th place.

In the “Big Boat” division over on course 4, it was a wet, wild, and shifty course to sail.  Sadly, only three races were completed on Saturday and none on Sunday since the Race Committee could not figure out how to secure the race course marks in 15-32 kts winds!  Bummer.  Nevertheless, in the J/35s, a familiar face won- Jim Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel’s AUNT JEAN won with just 4 pts, followed by Roger Lant’s ABIENTOT in second, Chuck Kohlerman’s MEDICINE MAN in third, Bruce Artman’s T-BONE in 4th, and Ben Travis/ Scott Steele’s B-ZING in 5th place.

The healthy, highly competitive seventeen-boat J/105 class saw a Canadian team top the standings- Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE from the Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, Ontario.  Second was local hero Andrew Kennedy’s BAT IV, followed by the Lewis/Salvesen duo on MIRAGE in third, Hugh Bethell’s JESTER in 4th and Arthur Libby & Tom Carter’s DOGHOUSE in 5th place.

The J/111s saw a “whitewash” take place, with Peter Wagner’s SKELETON KEY win with straight bullets. Second was local hotshot, Martie Roesch’s VELOCITY crew, taking the silver.  Third was Long Island Sound rock-star, Sedgwick Ward’s BRAVO, closely followed by Jeff Davis’ SHAMROCK in 4th and Jim Connelly’s SLUSH FUND in 5th place. Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com.  For more Helly Hansen Annapolis NOOD Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Smashing San Diego NOOD Regatta!

Santa Barbara YC Qualifies for US J/70 Youths!
(San Diego, CA)- The masses attending this year’s Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD Regatta were not disappointed!  As they have managed to accomplish in the past, the San Diego YC hosted another great event for the 500+ sailors that were participating in their annual spring bash on the San Diego Harbor and offshore of Point Loma.

The weekend marked the second major event in the Helly Hansen Sailing World NOOD events for the summer of 2017.  Three large one-design fleets of J’s were sailing- J/70, J/105 & J/120.

The nineteen J/70s enjoyed great sailing, with ten races completed over the three-day weekend.  Taking class honors was Jeff Janov’s MINOR THREAT; but it was not without some drama.  Jeff couldn’t sail the first day due to business commitments, so he had his 14 year old son steer the first day- to lead the regatta with a 2-1-3 record! Then, as the weekend progressed, they maintained a consistently high score until they posted two uncharacteristically high scores- a 15th and 12th in the 8th and 9th races.  However, by closing with a 1st in the last race, they sealed the deal to win class overall.

Second in J/70s and also Top Corinthians crew was none other than Pat Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS of J/24 North American Championship fame from the talented Santa Barbara YC group of sailors.  The Big Doggers sailed their best series to date in J/70s and are sure to be a contender in future major events.  Just four points off the pace behind them was Jim Murrell’s HUCKLEBERRY.  Rounding out the top five were Bruce Cooper’s USA 32 in 4th place and Dave Hochart’s USA 540 (also 2nd Corinthians).  Of note, third Corinthians was Craig Tallman’s JAVA.

This event also marked the third regatta for US J/70 Youth Championship teams to qualify.  In this event, there were three teams from across the spectrum of youth programs in Southern California.  They included the HELLY HANSEN JUNIOR CREW skippered by Jack Reiter representing the host SDYC; Luke Pierce sailing CAKE, representing Santa Barbara YC; and Robert Garret skippering SLOOP JOHN B, representing Newport Harbor YC.  For these three crews, it was a nip and tuck battle all weekend long.  In the end, it was the Santa Barbara YC/ SB Youth Foundation crew of high-school kids on CAKE (Lucas Pierce (skipper), Ryan Eastwood (Tactician), Chris Kayda, Kris Ozolins, and Payne Donaldson) that qualified as the top youth team from the regatta for the US J/70 Youth Championship in Newport, RI this coming August. The SBYC/SBYF team has been supported by CAKE’s owner, Scott Deardorff- also the Rear Commodore of Santa Barbara YC. Here is Lucas’ commentary:

“A couple of months ago, I was approached by Mr. Deardorff, to see if I had any interest in putting together a team to try to qualify for the J/70 Youth Championship.  He offered to let us use his J/70.  None of us have very much keelboat experience, but we were really excited to give it a shot!

We set up a practice schedule and worked mostly on our boat-handling.  We were able to do one local regatta in really light air. But, other than that, we didn’t have any regatta experience in the J/70.

Our plan was to try to qualify for the J/70 Youth Nationals this summer at the San Diego NOOD regatta, March 17-19.

We really enjoyed sailing against the high level of competition at this regatta and the two other junior teams.  We know almost all of the kids on the other teams and we’re all good friends.  We learned a lot over the weekend.  Our starts improved a lot as we got a feel for when to unfurl the jib and how to set up.  We felt really fast downwind the whole time, but learned a lot about how to sail faster upwind, like how to flatten the sails, the boat, and how to use the backstay.

We’re looking forward to practicing some more and seeing a lot of our old Opti, Laser and 29er friends in Newport this summer!”

The eleven J/105s had their dose of sanity fed to them from one of the West Coast’s top J/105 crews.  There was no question the regatta was going to come down to the top three teams that have been leading the class the past few years- Rick Goebel’s SANITY, Dennis Case’s WINGS and Tom Hurlburt/ Chuck Driscoll’s JUICED.  In the end, it was the SANITY crew skippered by Rick Goebel that walked off with class honors with an undeniably powerful, ego-crushing scoreline of all top three finishes- a 2-2-1-3-1-3 tally for just 12 pts total.  Their compatriots in crime at the top of the leaderboard, nevertheless, made it a struggle for both Goebel but as well as themselves.  WINGS won that battle by a whisker in the last race, hanging onto a 7th to secure second by one point over the jazzed-up JUICED crew!  Rounding out the top five were Scott McDaniel’s OFF THE PORCH (happy to win the last race) to secure 4th place, and Stew Cannon’s J-OK in fifth (happy to win the first race!).

The J/120 class was probably grateful they were not white-washed by the insanely smart or fast (or both) crew on board John Laun’s CAPER.  While they started off with a “less than zero” tally in their first race, a negative 6 pts, the caped crusaders on CAPER just put it all together and sailed away with a 1-3-1-1 tally for the gold!  What was cooler than that performance? A new face in the crowd- the proverbial “new kids on the block”!  A bunch of MAD MEN, no less.  It was Ernie Pennell’s crew on MAD MEN that sailed an amazing regatta to get the silver by one point!  Shockingly, it was Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY team that was on the short-end of that stick, settling for the bronze behind “the new kids”. Rounding out the top five was another surprise, Tim Hogan’s almighty lucky SHAMROCK was just one point back in 4th place and past multiple regatta champion, Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER, had to settle for 5th place. Amazing how times are a-changin’ in the SD 120 world.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images  For more Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD Regatta Preview

(San Diego, CA)- This weekend marks the second major event in the Helly Hansen Sailing World NOOD events for the summer of 2017.  The host will be the San Diego YC and three large one-design fleets of J’s are sailing (J/70, J/105 & J/120) in the Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD Regatta.  Racing will take place from March 17th to 19th in two principal sailing areas- down in South Bay just past the majestic San Diego city waterfront or off the southwestern tip of the picturesque Point Loma Peninsula and the beaches of North Island (home to the US Navy’s Pacific fleet).

The sailors will likely be preparing for light to moderate conditions all weekend with benign temperatures in the upper 60s.  Friday’s forecast shows overcast skies with westerly winds shifting into the SW quadrant at 4-8 kts; Saturday looks more promising with mostly sunny skies and a decent SW sea breeze building into the 6-10 kts range; then Sunday dawns overcast and sailing looks a bit questionable, but with promise of a late-developing seabreeze from the WNW of 4-8 kts.

The eighteen J/70s have a great turnout of leading West coast teams.  In addition, joining them are at least three Youth teams that are hoping to qualify for the U.S. J/70 Youth Championship in Newport, RI later this summer.  Those youth teams include the HELLY HANSEN JR CREW skippered by Jack Reiter representing the host SDYC; Luke Pierce sailing CAKE, representing Santa Barbara YC; and Robert Garret skippering SLOOP JOHN B, representing Newport Harbor YC.  These three teams will have great racing against such West coast luminaries like Pat Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara YC (ex J/24 North American Champions), David Schumann’s BOTTLE ROCKET from San Francisco YC, Craig Tallman’s JAYA from Kings Harbor YC, Jeff Janov’s MINOR THREAT from Cal YC, Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR from SDYC and the lone Mexican crew- Fabian Gomez-Ibarra’s VAGAZO.

Not surprisingly, the eleven J/105s that are primarily from the host SDYC are showing up in force. Most all top crews from previous years will be in the mix, such as Steve Howells BLINK, Stew Cannon’s J-OK, Chuck Driscoll & Tom Hurlburt’s JUICED (the crazily bright orange boat!), Rick Goebel’s SANITY, Tim Fuller’s STEADFAST and Dennis Case’s WINGS.

Like their J/105 colleagues, the seven J/120s entered mostly hail from San Diego YC, but the two “outsiders” from the Los Angeles area will be a threat to the local’s domination on the leaderboard.  Those two challengers include Tom & Teri Manok’s POLE DANCER from Carlsbad, CA and Tim Hogan’s SHAMROCK from Newport Harbor YC.  Planning on holding their own and fly the SDYC burgee onto the winner’s podium might be John Laun’s CAPER, Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER, Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE, Mike Hatch’s J-ALMIGHTY and Ernie Pennell’s MAD MEN.  For more Helly Hansen San Diego NOOD sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Helly Hansen NOOD Regattas Announcement

(Newport, RI)– In 2017, Sailing World magazine’s annual racing circuit, the National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta Series, will revisit the country’s top sailing destinations for another five-stop series, culminating in a tropical championship regatta.

For the third consecutive year, HELLY HANSEN— a global leader in technical sailing apparel with more than 135 years of experience protecting professionals on the water— will continue as title sponsor for the elite sailing series.   The Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Series will return to:

•  St. Petersburg, Fl-  Feb. 17-19, St. Petersburg Yacht Club
•  San Diego, CA-  March 17-19, San Diego Yacht Club and Coronado Yacht Club
•  Annapolis, MD-  May 5-7, Annapolis Yacht Club
•  Chicago, IL-  June 9-11, Chicago Yacht Club
•  Marblehead, MA-  July 27-30, Corinthian Yacht Club

The overall winner from each event earns a berth at the Helly Hansen Caribbean NOOD Championship Regatta, hosted by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands Oct. 22-27.

“Helly Hansen is excited to continue its partnership with a regatta series as strong as the NOOD Regatta,” said Brian Leslie, Watersports Sales Director at Helly Hansen. “The events are a major way for us to connect with sailors, and seeing the fleets grow—as well as youth participation with programs like the Junior Crew— is great.”

Operating since 1988, Sailing World’s National Offshore One Design Regattas, known as the “NOODs,” are the longest-running and most popular sailboat racing series in North America. Thousands of sailors aboard hundreds of race boats competed in the 2016 NOOD season; a vast majority of them are J sailors that participate in J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/88s, J/105s, J/111s, J/120s and more in the PHRF divisions.

Every NOOD regatta attracts regional, national and international talent to compete against the local community on their home waters. Registration opens approximately two months prior to each race.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outsideimages.com.   For more HELLY HANSEN NOOD Regatta sailing information

J/World Race Weeks in San Diego!

(San Diego, CA) - J/World Sailing School’s famous Racing Weeks will be running in San Diego this Fall and Winter- from October 24-28 and December 5-9.   J/World has been teaching and refining this course for 35 years now.  Their staff, curriculum, and their approach make them the undisputed industry leader when it comes to performance sailing.  They cover everything from boat-handling and sail trim to strategy and tactics.  Spend a week with them on their fleet of matched J/80 one-design performance sailboats, and they will send you home smarter, stronger, and faster.  That's absolutely guaranteed!!  Learn more here about J/World’s sailing courses